Smog Exemption Bill Advances

SB-1239, the Smog Exemption bill, received a unanimous vote in favor by the Appropriations Committee. This is the bill that would exempt older cars from smog checks. Even though it affects a relatively small number of cars, the pollution impacts would still be considerable. An average of 30% of 1976-1981 vehicles failed smog tests.

The Sierra Club, NRDB, BAAQMD, he Lung Association, and the Coalition for Clean Air have all come out against the bill. They point out that California already provides financial assistance to owners high-polluting older cars. The Coalition for Clean Air also notes that:

the smog check program allows for deterioration of the vehicle’s emission controls over time. To pass smog check, owners of older vehicles simply need to maintain their vehicles.

It is ironic that California is considering this bill at the same time it is going after VW for defeat devices. Passing the bill will really undercut the public health arguments California has made in its case against VW.

The exemption only targets collector cars, not junkers. They have to be insured as collector cars. These cars are generally well maintained and driven infrequently (mine < 1000 miles/year). The trouble is getting parts that have the proper CARB EO certification to pass visual inspection even though they pass tailpipe emissions tests.

I might agree if the bill were strictly limited to museum cars (such as your’s) being used less than 1000 miles/year. But that is not the case with the bill — the only requirement (as you noted) is to obtain Collector car insurance, which is no more difficult than getting regular insurance. Owners of junkers can easily do that, and drive as much as they please.

As for the difficulty in getting parts, that has not been my experience. I’ve restored 2 collector cars from that era — and yes it did involve some hunting at junkyards and ordering rebuild kits, but that is part of the joy of maintaining a collector car. The kinds of persons who don’t want to keep the smog operational are either motorheads trying to increase HP, or owners of junkers who can’t afford to maintain their vehicle. I’m not sympathetic to either.

If you read the bill it actually still requires these cars to pass the tailpipe emissions. It lets them by pass the under hood inspection. So essentially these cars will still be running clean, it just makes it easier for us car guys that have older cars to obtain parts that will work. I know for a fact that there are plenty of non CARB approved parts such as FItechs new self learning fuel injection that would actually help improve my emissions as well as my fuel economy but I cant put it on my car since it doesn’t have a special CARB EO number assigned to it. Again people who do not support this bill are just looking at the small amount of bad people who will abuse the system with this. But you have to remember there are already people just paying off smog shops to pass their gross polluters.